This morning found me in a grey world. Overcast and cooler outside, and slight drizzles, the kind that are light enough to stand in, but hell to drive in. And as usual, the people who freak out over condensed moisture were out and about making a nuisance for everyone. One lady had her hazards on and was driving ten miles under the speed limit. How do I know it was the drizzle and not car trouble that made her slow and cautious? Because she was hunched over the steering wheel, peering through the windshield like it was covered in mud.
We have a few of them around here. Rain is that unusual.
Anyway, as I was waiting at the stop light, I looked up, and saw the migratory grackles, all in rows.
I had to laugh, thinking of a much younger Eldest the first time she noticed them here in winter:
Eldest: Daddy, why are there still so many birds around? Don’t they fly south for the winter?
Hubby: Honey, they did. THIS is the south they fly to!
Eldest: Why not go to Mexico? It’s way warmer.
Me: Because there they are part of the food chain, honey.
Eldest: π―
No, it’s true. I’ve partaken of pigeon and grackle stew before on my many visits there. Good stuff, too! No sense in being delicate about the Circle of Lifeβ’, you know. But really, I just wanted to freak her out.
I’m a mom. It’s my job π
February 12th, 2013 at 9:57 AM
gah-ross
February 12th, 2013 at 1:25 PM
Hater π
February 12th, 2013 at 10:22 AM
Texas is the best place for Bird watching. We even have our own Peterson’s Bird Book. The coolest trip I’ve been on is the Whooper tour out of Rockport/Fulton or Port A during the winter. Even the dolphins get in the act and play along. π
February 12th, 2013 at 1:25 PM
Best birding we’ve done was at the Lloyd Bentsen Natural Area. It was awesome!
February 12th, 2013 at 10:27 AM
The grackle story? Oh yeah, I used to hate those birds. I once managed an Exxon that used to be next to the McDonalds (my idea for location, no money to start it or residuals, but I digress) at 46 and I-10. One morning there was hundreds of wasp looking bugs all over, some already smush from customers, then the grackles came in and cleaned every last one of those nasty bugs.
Since then I always smile when I see them.
February 12th, 2013 at 1:24 PM
Yep…seen them come into a cricket-filled parking lot and feast to the point that some couldn’t fly off π
February 12th, 2013 at 11:05 AM
Heh. Are you familiar with the works of Alfred Hitchcock?
Usually the only time I see grackles sitting in mass quantities like that is when I have to walk/drive underneath at least two power-lines’ worth of the little incontinent bass turds.
February 12th, 2013 at 1:24 PM
Only movie of his I refuse to watch ever again π
February 12th, 2013 at 12:27 PM
What the hell is a grackle?
February 12th, 2013 at 1:23 PM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Grackle/id
Enjoy π
February 12th, 2013 at 2:31 PM
Was just about to ask the same thing! x
February 12th, 2013 at 3:06 PM
Heh…wandering around the Ft.Worth zoo one afternoon, I found a zoo employee wandering back to the employee-only area, stopped her, and informed her that someone had left the grackle cage open. I thought she was gonna pass out from laughing so hard! Another visit, I asked a guy where the grackle exhibit was located….he didn’t get it, just sat there with a “ummmmmm….” look on his face until another employee nearby came to his rescue.
February 12th, 2013 at 3:47 PM
He must not have been from around here π
February 12th, 2013 at 8:10 PM
He was the guy who walked around and did the “shows”, where he stands in front of an exhibit dressed like some African explorer from the 1800s (complete with pith helmet!) and does a small talk and answers questions for a half hour. That’s probably all he knew about the zoo.
February 12th, 2013 at 8:39 PM
The ones in the pith helmets always crack me up π
February 12th, 2013 at 4:38 PM
Te he he he! A-m-a-z-i-n-g! I must say ‘grackle’ does sound a bit like some dodgy skin infection…or something…… poor things….. xxx
February 13th, 2013 at 6:46 AM
If you can’t mess with their little heads once in a while, what’s the sense in having Kids?
February 13th, 2013 at 6:57 AM
Very wise observation, Jack π